For Arithmancy
by Kokoro893
Summary: Padma shops for books before year six.


Event: Magic Minds, Mushrooms, and Math

3\. Math Lover, additional prompt: Padma Patil

Wordcount: 1.189

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**For Arithmancy**

She had already bought all of her school-supplies the day after she was owled the list. The young witch might have not been the best student in her year but she loved to learn, just not necessarily for exams. She even joined an illegal dueling club to deepen her knowledge in Defence Against the Dark Arts. If her parents knew...

By far her favorite subject was Arithmancy. She loved the precision of it. No one told her to listen to her instincts, it was simple math and in the end, she got a clear result. For some reason, it was rumored to be tough and as a consequence, not many students enrolled in this subject and from those who did, many gave up over the years. From all the students who started to learn Arithmancy, only eight passed their OWL.

Professor Septima Vector did little to correct this development. She enjoyed teaching the most eager students and saw no reason to carry those who only wanted an additional degree because it looked good on their CV. From the few students who actually passed the young witch knew of at least three who were going to drop it due to the Professor's announcement of raising the standard significantly for her NEWT course, the only one that didn't have any requirements higher than an OWL.

Padma Patil wasnt one of them. The Ravenclaw couldnt wait for the summer to end and classed to begin. The fact that their group was so small and in some years not a single student signed up for Arithmancy made her feel unique. A rather rare feeling considering she had an identical twin sister. Even their parents confused them at times which only got worse since the girls started Hogwarts and they didnt see them as often as they used to.

Professor Vector had mailed a list to all of her students. Lisa Peters a fellow Ravenclaw, Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy and she were the only ones who would join her for the next two years. The young witch found the later two noisy and was annoyed with their constant fighting. The fact that both of them seemed to understand even the most complex topics more easily than she did, didn't help either. Padma thought that Marc O'Brien was going to continue Arithmancy as well but he must have changed his mind over the summer.

Their Professor sent them a list with recommended literature to help the small group of students to cope with the higher Mathematics required. Since most wizards didn't receive more than basic math education all but one of the books were written by muggle. Which posed a challenge, how was she supposed to get those books?

The by minutes older Patil-sister was at loss. She contemplated writing a letter to her Professor or sending an owl to Hermione but she suspected they would only tell her what she already knew and she didn't want to look like a fool. The young witch was about to ask her sister to accompany her to muggle-London but she had already gone out with her friend Lavander.

The young witch took a deep breath. She threw on her favorite saree. The last couple of meters of the long blue fabric were delicately embroidered. She received it as a present the first yule after she started Hogwarts from her grandmother. Not surprisingly her sister was gifted a similar one in red.

Even though she was technically not allowed to do magic outside the school, the witch used her wand to help wrap the sheer endless band of fabric around her body because it was common knowledge that the Ministry didn´t have a good way of recognizing unauthorized magic in wizarding households and unofficially operated under the credo that parents were responsible for their children's actions.

Hiding her wand beneath her clothes she packed her list and money and flooed to the Leaking Caldrum. After exchanging Galleon for Muggle-currency the moment had come. Looking at the brick wall she paused. This was it, her first time alone in a muggle-area.

The young witch felt uncomfortable. It was crowded and she felt stared at. People were hurrying through the streets not really looking where they went. Padma stopped for a moment to look around. Someone crashed into her.

"Hey, look where you're going," he barked at her.

The witch remained still. She hadn't even done something wrong. Having finally reached an underground station the Ravenclaw studied the city plan. Since she needed specialist literature going to a bookstore near a university appeared logical. However, buying a ticket wasn't.

The young witch tried to buy one but she couldn't get the machine to work. She watched the passengers on the device next to her and copied their actions with no avail. There was already a long line of people queuing up behind her which stressed her even more. Millions of muggles did this every day it couldn't be that hard.

"Do you speak English?" The lady behind her asked.

Padma nodded unable to make a sound. The lady patiently showed her how it was done and a few seconds later the young witch held her ticket in her hands.

"Thank you, madame. You helped me a lot. I couldn´t have done it without you."

"No problem, is this your first time in England?"

'No, I grew up here' she heard her sister say in her mind. Padma didn´t voice it but merely nodded. Feeling like a stranger in her own country she had to realize how different the muggle-world was from hers.

She entered the large vehicle. This time she was sure that she had done something wrong as everybody stared at her. She looked around to decipher what it was but she couldn´t find it out. Realizing that an OWL in Muggle Studies was not sufficient to maneuver in their world tasted bitter. The young witch wanted to go home. If only she had an Apparation-licence...

She should at least have taken Pravati with her. Her sister was stronger, a Gryffindor. As the tears fell from her big dark eyes the Ravenclaw remembered why she was here. She needed books for her favorite subject. She wiped the salty liquid from her cheeks. For Arithmancy, she told herself.

Late in the evening she finally returned home. This whole ordeal had taken her much longer than she anticipated. The young witch went straight into her room and unpacked her treat. After such a hard day she truly earned that.

The paper was thin and shockingly white. Padma picked up her quill and calculated the first few exercises. As she kept getting the right answers the smile on her face grew wider and wider. She loved derivatives whereas integral calculuses proved to be a little more challenging.

She was so excited that she almost couldn´t fall asleep. Soon the next school year would begin and the young witch would get to use all the new things she had learned. Padma went to bed happy and proud of herself knowing that in the end, it was all worth it, for Arithmancy.


End file.
